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Monday, April 23, 2012

"Free Stuff" from Hasbro: The story of UT's disappearance

Soo.. guys. Hi. Were back.. briefly.

We've been offline for the month after some "interesting" developments have transpired and I just wanted to keep you all in the loop of what's been happening to me, and essentially Urban Taggers in general. I guess a few of you have been wondering where I've been. Non-Nerf things have kept me quite busy and to be honest, all has not been good in the world of Nerf and I'm seriously rethinking my fondness for Nerf given recent interactions with Hasbro and their lawyers.

So what went down to force this? Read on for the update.

I've had this blog for a while now and set Urban Taggers up as a source of information for toy blaster lovers everywhere, so you can imagine my delight when I receive the email below from Hasbro being so generous as to offer to send me some samples so long as I give them my postal address!

---------------------------On 15 March 2012 12:27, Gibson, Leigh

Hi there,I have some of the above in our office I can give to you as a giveaway – noticed you were wanting to know if they are in Australia. We ordered some as a gift with purchase but haven’t used them anywhere yet. Please let me know if you are interested and I can see how many we can spare.

Hi Leigh,
Thanks so much for your email, and good to hear from an official Hasbro channel! The Pinpoint sight IS probably one of the most sought after accessories so offering some to us for a giveaway would be fantastic and would definitely be a very popular prize. Did you have anything in mind you'd like to see us do/push/promote?
Thanks
Pocket
urbantaggers.com

Hi, No – they aren’t for sale anywhere – My colleague Pete will send some to you (plus one for yourself) if you can let us know where to send them. We should be able to spare 10 for giveaway so will send you 11 – Pete will confirm this qty.Thanks,Leigh
----------------------------------

The email looked legit enough - no promises of untold wealth in Nigeria and this is Hasbro after all - so I let them know my postal address.

The free stuff from Hasbro was pretty quick to come. Because I'm such a generous guy, I'm going to share the free goodies that I received with all of you.

See below:

That's right. A free letter. From their lawyers. A.W.E.S.O.M.E. To say that I was little bit disappointed was a bit of an understatement. (Think Calvin with the helicopter beanie...)

I'm informed by a reliable source who used to work at a magic circle firm and a first tier firm here in Oz that Hasbro's legal eagles aren't even a first tier, magic circle or white shoe firm. Because they were at least polite, I have wished them well with their efforts and referred them to Google images - which is where all of us find those wonderful images out there.

Thanks for your letter from 21 March 2012 regarding the images of the "Nerf N-Strike Elite Rampage" that were posted on my blog.

I appreciate the polite and amicable tone of your letter so, as requested, I've taken the images relating to the Rampage down from my blog.

Regarding the other part of your letter, because my blog provides commentary and reviews about nerf products, it is open to the public and I receive many anonymous emails from readers regarding leads on new products on a regular basis. As such, I frequently don't bother saving such emails after the relevant information has been posted on my blog.

I should point out that even if I did save the original contact details of the source, if anyone was providing me with information to post on my blog and I had promised to keep the identify of the informant confidential - then I would feel obliged to honour that promise. I note that recent amendments to the Australian Evidence Act introduced express protections for journalists and their sources i.e. a person who gives information to a journalist in the normal course of the journalist's work in the expectation that the information may be published in a news medium. While blogging is a hobby of mine and I don't regard myself as a professional journalist, the wording seems quite broad given that "news medium" means any medium for the dissemination to the public or a section of the public of news and observations on news i.e. it could conceivably cover blogging.

Nonetheless, as mentioned, I do appreciate that you have attempted to resolve this matter without unpleasant threads and I do not want to be unhelpful, so if you are in search of more images with a view to identifying the source, you could try using Google/Google images to do a targetted search in the same way I do, using appropriate search parameters to narrow the scope of the search. For instance, a quick search using Google has pulled up web sites like http://www.kapsis.gr/product.php/products_id=5564&language=en ).

Given that I've already taken down the images in question and I don't have the information you want - I consider this matter at an end and that there isn't anything to discuss. As mentioned, blogging about Nerf guns is a hobby of mine that I do for free, not a business - since receiving your letter, my blogging hobby isn't as fun as it used to be. In future, for images used on my blog, I'll try to link to the original source URL in an effort to avoid this sort of confusion arising again.

As mentioned in my original email, given that the images in question are already widely available on the Internet, I really do think that your best chance of identifying the source of the images is to do further web searching.

Kind regards

PS: Just to satisfy my own curiosity - Hasbro recently asked me for my address so that they could send me free promotional Nerf samples. I had assumed that this was actually for the purposes of sending me your letter rather than giving me free stuff. The thing is, since receiving your letter, their marketing team has asked me for my address again - which is a bit weird really. Does this mean I am going to get another letter from you or will I actually get the free merchandising this time?

Thank you for your email. Sorry to have spoiled your fun, but Hasbro has real concerns about your ability to access NERF products before they are released to the market. We refer in particular to your reviews of the "Vortex Nitron" and "Rayven" models in June and October 2011. Hasbro needs to know from whom you obtained the samples that you used for these reviews.

You'll appreciate how important it is for Hasbro to maintain the integrity of its supply process. I hope that you'll reconsider and be prepared to discuss these issues with me.

As for your question about the request for your address, this had nothing to do with me. I can only assume that Hasbro really does want to send you some stuff. Hasbro actually admires what you are doing with your blogsite and has no wish to shut you down. But you must understand that Hasbro has got to find out where these samples came from.

I look forward to talking to you.

Regards,

Robert ArnoldPartner

--------------------------------------------

Flash forward to today- I forgot all about this for a bit and didn't reply to the latest letter from the lawyers. Then I get stories from neighbours that some strange woman and some burly, repo-looking type is hanging around my apartment block. How creepy is that?

Sadly they weren't here to give me free stuff. Turns out they're from Hasbro's lawyers!!! I told them the same stuff all over again and tried to explain that I got a bunch of stuff from ebay and taobao – of course they haven't heard of taobao and seem to want me to do their job for them.

What next? Will they send thugs to break my legs and hit men to take me out? Not cool Hasbro – also not cool lawyers, Hasbro's paying you the big bucks to get someone in Canberra to teach you how to use Google??? Soo.. I wrote back to Robert the lawyer guy with this:

I realise I forgot to get back to you because I have been busy with work and non-Nerf matters but I really think that it was extremely unprofessional and wrong to send strange people to come and lurk around my apartment block menacingly like that. You really freaked out the neighbours and people who live nearby mentioned some strange woman and a big-looking repo-man-looking guy hanging around suspiciously.

First of all, you're lucky that no one called the police. Secondly, I really do not appreciate being ambushed by lawyers or their representatives on a Sunday afternoon when I haven't done anything wrong, I have taken down the images and it's not my fault that neither you nor Hasbro seem to be able to find out whoever the original source of the guns. It would also have been appropriate to give me forewarning so that I could have a lawyer present.

I've told your friend 'Christine' what I know but it was extremely rude to just show up on my doorstep and scare my neighbours like that. Regarding Nitro and Rayven - I really wish that you'd been up front and mentioned the products in question in your first letter, it could have saved everyone a lot of time and Hasbro a lot of legal fees.

Regarding the "Vortex Nitron" and "Rayven", these products are freely available for purchase online at this website: http://www.taobao.com/index_global.php. I don't have the listing details anymore, but if you search for Nerf stuff there, you should find it. I realise that the products weren't officially released yet but it's not my fault they were on taobao and it's pretty common to find promo stuff on taobao/ebay that the recipients have decided to sell online … I've showed your friend Christine the site but I really can't be expected to teach people how to use an internet search engine. You'll also have to learn how to read Chinese. I don't read Chinese so I can't help you there.

So - I really hope that that's it. As I keep telling you, my website is public and I receive a LOT of correspondence and most of it is anonymous. As I have also told you, in future I will include URL links so that it's clear to Hasbro where images came from but I really can't go back and identify old information received - as you can appreciate, it is the internet - people rarely use real names unless you know someone in real life named spunkypineapplehead666 (that's just a hypothetical example by the way). I mean for all I know, spunkypineapplehead666 could be an 88 year old granny in Florida or even be someone like YOU given that it's the internet.

The reason I didn't see the point in talking to you is that:

1. It seems wrong for Hasbro to have to spend more in legal fees just so that I can tell you again over the phone that I can't help you because I don't have the information you seek (apart from giving you the taobao link) when I've already told you this several times in email.

2. I really don't have the information you seek and I know that you probably don't mean it that way, but I don't think it's right for a law firm to try to make me feel like I should be fabricating information just to bring this matter to a close. I know I'm not a lawyer or anything but that just seems really wrong to me ... It also seems wrong to send strangers to my house without warning. If I'd known you were going to show up like that, I'd have had a lawyer present for what would seem to many people to be unprofessional and intimidating conduct.

If it makes you happy, in future, if other people come to me trying to give me information, I'll tell them to go away. That being said, I also don't think I am going to get any more leads on Nerf products, given everything that is happening so I am really a dead end in terms of your chain of investigation.
There really isn't anything more I can do for you given that:

1. the images have been taken down
2. I will tell future people to go away (yes, I would rather tell them to go away rather than dob)
3. I will attribute images in future
4. I don't have the information you seek
5. I don't see any problem with buying nerf products off of taobao or ebay.

Please don't send people around anymore. Your time would seriously be better spent looking up taobao and Google.

Regards

------------------------------------------------------

ETA: Just because of some feedback I've received (and wow there has been a bootload and I thank you all for the support!)! I wanted to respond and clarify a few things:

1. I did not put up the letter from Baker & McKenzie to be provocative. I genuinely wanted to resolve this issue quietly and without fuss - which is why you're only reading about all of this now. Take a look - my last post was on 20 March.

2. I received the first letter from Baker & McKenzie on 21 March. I did actually appreciate the courteous and reasonable tone used so elected to take the whole blog offline for the subsequent correspondence in an attempt to resolve the issue quietly. It was my choice to take it down while I was sorting out this matter.

3. It was only AFTER I received a visit at my home on 22 April that I decided to publish the entire chain of correspondence on my blog. I've been advised that the actions adopted by Baker & McKenzie are fairly ordinary/normal for law firms in the course of enforcement actions on behalf of clients. I appreciate and understand this, but by the same token, I think that big corporates and law firms should realise how intimidating such behaviour will be to a non-lawyer/ordinary person and they should expect that we're going to be freaked out and respond accordingly. What is normal for them is not normal for the ordinary guy ...yes, I a kinda ordinary really:)

4. I wasn't at all trying to be rude and disrespectful but I felt as though bullying tactics were being adopted and given that my attempts to resolve the issue were unsuccessful and I was not able to make Baker &
McKenzie understand/believe that I really did not have the information that they were looking for - posting to the blog was really the ONLY way I had of setting out my side of the story and I just wanted to put it out there as it happened. I am not sure I could have been any clearer in my emails.

5. I realise that this must have been very frustrating for the lawyers and that given that I appeared to be their only 'source' of information, they felt as though they had to keep pushing and pushing even though there was no point. Again, the information and the products are out there on the Internet - they are there for all to
find. Really.

It looks like they are trying to look into this issue. From the statement it does seem to be a horrible case of poor internal communication among all the parties concerned - maybe me, too because there have been heaps of people telling me that sending investigators to your door on a Sunday afternoon thing is very normal for enforcement investigations even in Australia. They've also explained to me why people do it. If I'd known that before, maybe I wouldn't have been so freaked out.

Before any one asks, no I have not received the pinpoints and it's just a shame that the timing of the letters (all of them) seems to have been so unlucky. Thanks all for your support.

Uh, no. The method by which Hasbro (NOT their lawyers) obtained his address was 100% deceitful. This by itself earns them a MASSIVE douchebag award. 'Smooth' move! *slow clap*Couple that with the fact that they chose to send their lawyers out to a fan bloggers home address to ask about products that hadn't even been mentioned in previous communiques and you've got yourself a classic example of how to be a COMPLETE ass.How can Hasbro make amends?1. Apologise. Now.2. Deliver those samples. And then deliver a whole bunch more.

It looks like they didn't, and yet Hasbro are a bunch of lying cunts and has the effing nerve to put in a statement that it was only reaching out to UT for promotional reasons, and yet never sent you anything - talk about BS'ing thru their teeth.

DAYMN. That's god awful and I can't believe Hasbro have stooped to such levels. I guessed you would be hitting up Tao Bao- I would too if I could read it!!

I reckon if they had just contacted you directly and talked it out with you or done what they do with NerfHQ and Foam From Above and keep you on side with the new info, they could have avoided ALL of this. We're on your side Pocket!

One problem with that: they said they were doing that with NerfHaven too, but I have seen no unreleased new OMG blaster type info since 2010(?). It's been a long time. Also, wow, what a bunch of asshats. I can certainly understand them asking you to take down the images, and even avoiding reveiwing unreleased blasters (even though that generates hype, and as a filthy pig-dog capitalist I approve of getting stuff early, but I would resell it after a review for large sums of cashy-money) due to various legal issues, BUT sending actual people to your apartment is really creepy. If you feel threatened, I suppose you could justify pepper spray (I am unfamiliar with Australian self-defense laws, sorry). I recommend you get a second blog for early reviews and leaked stuff. When that gets shut down, make a third.

NerfHaven got really tight at a certain point when people could just google news about unreleased blasters and posting it there. Ever since, they stomp any threads that talk about new releases into the ground. Talio and the others are very anal about that.

They're just Toy Blasters, what the hell is the problem with Hasbro!? Do they think this is hurting their sales? It's free promotion for f*cks sake!!!

Anonymous, it would really (sarcasm time) be a TERRIBLE thing for Hasbro if their new Elite Stampede/Rapidstrike got leaked to everybody on here...(end sarcasm)I totally agree with you. It's free f*cking promotion from popular websites! What's harmful about that!?

I don't know much Greek and I still found a "Vortex Slamfire 40" picture off Kapsis in under a minute. So why can't the lawyers do that, too? Or, Google "new nerf vortex guns" or something like that and there are readily available pictures of blasters that "don't exist" if you ask Hasbro. Why does Hasbro do this?

Wow, that's some serious bull$#!+ I've been having a lot of reservations about Hasbro stuff lately, and this just cemented my resolve to not buy Hasbro anymore. Art least not firsthand. We're all Beijing's you on this hope it here's resolved soon dude.

Whew, glad to see you back. Pretty trippy story. The lawyers/Hasbro seemed cool, and so did you Pocket, very cooperative, and understanding for the most part until they sent the people over. Its probably cause you didn't answer that letter back, but they should have sent more or tried to contact you more.

Pretty sure everything they did there is at least moderately illegal-falsely requesting personal information, sending people to stalk you, shutting down a public blog because they felt like it-regardless of what country they're operating in or based in.

You go Pocket! Man, I woulda be creeped out if a Repo Guy came around my neighborhood too. (Do you still have al your vital organs?) :3 Anyway, I feel bad, but it was funny to read how you gave it right back to 'um.

Sadly, you've won the battle but not the war. I would assume there are going to be more visits from Mr. Arnold Palmer (lol) or whatever his name is.

I would just set up my death, fake a passport, and move to tibet. Then start a new blog.

Till next time,

Nerfpwner18

Check out my blog: http://oneprettycoolblog.blogspot.com/

^ It has some Nerf stuff on it... I hope I don't get any Repo men though... Don't wanna end up like Charlie the Unicorn.

This is utter madness. Hasbro are a legitamate company. Why would they do this? Do they think that just because they are a big firm with lots of lawyers that they can just show up on someones doorstep and frighten neighbours. The fact that they used deception to obtain your adress really takes the biscuit. You should contact the authorities about this

Wow Hasbro, really? Just make everything public at once if that's what really bugs you. And learn how to use a search engine while your at it. It seems to me that they were kinda bribing you with those pinpoint sights to get your address so the "guys in suits" could stalk you. I would have gotten a lawyer, police, or my singled Titan right there. As for the future, I hope that you wont stop posting here but you are right. If your hobby has been robbed of its fun, why continue? I'll go along with whatever you decide.

Sounds like a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. The lawyer DOES say Hasbro love what Urban Taggers is doing, and he knows nothing of Hasbro giving Pocket pinpoint sights, so Hasbro might not be at fault and legitimately wanted the address to send the stuff.

What is weird is Pocket asked Hasbro what they wanted UT to do with the sights and this leigh character seemed to be just "just have them" which seems weird. Surely it would be "say we're awesome?" or "just help promote us" as opposed to what they said they'd do.

What Hasbro can be blamed for is poor choice of tactics. UT isn't the most professional looking blog out there (sorry Pocket, no offense) its obviously a home/backyard blog by someone who really really likes nerf blasters, so with the amount of readership and traffic UT makes, you would think Nerf would want to get in on that and nurture the relationship. Sending out a lawyer who in turn sends out a woman to do his dirty work because he can't reach a guy on the phone?

If you read the letters, Robert starts with asking for pocket to take the images of the Rampage down. (Just the Rampage? What about the Retaliator and Hailfire) Then he proceeds to wanting to know about the sources of where pocket gets the blasters from. I thought lawyers are supposed to be all full disclosure from the word go. journalistic integrity means pocket doesnt have to him squat.

its a bit sad though that all this time there was no cool leaks or secret tip offs. shows how powerful the internet is. if hasbro have dumb enough people to post things on the web that shouldnt be there, why is pocket being blamed for them being retarded?

2) Nerf have been happy to accept all the free publicity and in turn, sales. Coincidence that Australia has easily more than triple the amount of Nerf on shelves than it did before Urbantaggers came along.

3) Nerf don't realise how marketing in current climate works and think if they do this to Pocket he will keep writing nice things about ther products.

Nerf guns have been pretty ordinary though over the years, I think if it wasn't for Pocket tooting the nerf horn we all would have just stuck with our Longshots and been on our way. Urban Taggers makes Nerf half assed repaints look exciting. They should be offering you a job Pocket, I know I wouldn't have bought that Rayven if it wasn't for you (and not sure that was a good thing because it actually sucks)

I had a similar experience with Apple and my iTunes discount blog. Its so ridiculous because you are in fact marketing for them...for free. Some companies just don't know how to use the web to their advantage.

That said, I also have a website relating to Mazda, and they have ALWAYS been very supportive.

From an Australian legal perspective, the behaviour of Hasbro and their lawyers has left them without a legal leg to stand on if this were to be duked out in court.

Even IF they had a legal right to obtain your sources, which is debatable in court, their actions from an administrative perspective break proper professional procedure and the Judge would throw the case out, have terse words with Hasbro's lawyers, then award you costs and open up the possibility of a harassment suit.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if they realise the error of their ways very shortly, and you'll get a short apology letter from the lawyers and it will all just go away.

I think the very first comment said it harsh but well.What an absolute joke. I wonder how Nerf would feel if EVERY blog dedicated to their products suddenly just put up a front page linking to this thread and no other information. It shows them as intimidating and bullying, something really great given they sell children's toys. "Hasbro - We're all for bullying and intimidation". Doubt we'll see that on their next commercial.

There are plenty of other foam blasters other than Nerf Pocket.. it's their loss completely if you stop promoting their stuff, which any positive post does essentially.. and you've always been so positive about them. This is just their way of saying "thanks for all the hard work Pocket".

I wonder if Hasbro know what their lawyers are doing. It seems pretty stupid. It's not like they're going after lil johnny's Nerf blog who only his mum reads. Urban Taggers is up there as one of the biggest and best, and this is only going to hurt them. Make an example out of the best blog out there, then force them to shut down will mean either two things- one that noone will want to write about nerf anymore in fear of repercussions (Nerf loses out) or two more blogs rise up to that Urban Tagger's place and do it bigger and harder (thereby defeating the purpose of Hasbro's witchhunt anyway).

Probably shouldn't have gotten back to "hasbro" regarding the pinpoint sights anyway. They sell for around 100 bucks each on eBay- if the guy genuinely had so many he could just peddle them on eBay himself and make a tidy sum. Sounded dodgy from the start. Everything about this sounds dodgy. Baker and McKenzie eh? must have nothing better to do.

Hasbro is just insane. Everyone knows Urban Taggers is the biggest and best blog and do a helluva lot more for the Nerf brand than any other marketing channel. Im surprised pocket has done it all for free too, I was almost certain Urban Taggers was in Hasbro's "pocket" *haha* for them to be so accommodating and positive about Nerf products. Because quite frankly, the last 18 months of Nerf have been crap.

I never believed all the rumors of Urban Taggers breaking into factories and making illegal "arms" deals. Its a dude in a small city in Australia who buys online. How are we to believe he's soooo connected with a secret source? Palease. (no offence Pocket)

Tao Bao is the biggest online market in China. Nerf is made in China. It's a no brainer. Employees get the stuff and probably sell it off. Why this wouldn't be the first conclusion any lawyer worth is salt would come to is beyond me. What a genius.

Or.. the lawyer bought into the rumors that lil kids made up to explain how Urban Taggers got the stuff. Next time Pocket say you got them from outer space. The lawyers might get a warrant to find your rocket ship.

Hasbro didnt ask Urban Taggers to be taken down, let's be clear. Pocket CHOSE to do that.

But, given the circumstances- I would too if I was in Pocket's position. Hasbro don't get to have the free publicity anymore if they're going to be doing these god awful tactics. Hasbro, you're a TOY COMPANY for gods sake!

Sure, Hasbro want to protect their IP and ensure control over the release of their products. But if they could have gone about it so many different ways.

Take the pinpoint sights out of it- I for one am still going to give Hasbro the benefit of the doubt and assume the Hasbro guys were genuine about sending the pinpoint sights out. I know that they're discontinued and 2 years old, go for 100 bucks on eBay and it's highly unlikely, but sure, let's work with that.

The issue I have is your buddy Robert has asked you in the first letter to remove the images of the Nerf Rampage. You did. He didn't write another letter. He sent an informal email saying "while we're at it, now I wanna chat and find out where you get your stuff."

He wasn't open and transparent from the first letter.

The second thing that's shonky is he wrote an email- didn't get a response and then decided to send "representatives" to your house. Did they show any ID? WHO does that? Since when do lawyers go "oh boo hoo I didn't get an email now I'll send the goons around"

If anything comes out of this, Hasbro should dump these amateurs before they do any more damage.

Baker & McKenzie might not be a great firm but it's an ok firm and so it's actually very disappointing to see a matter like this handled so poorly and with such little diplomacy. Like people have mentioned above, it seems really weird to jump from letter to email to then sending a menacing Goon Squad over to pocket's house on a Sunday afternoon when you know that pocket is not going to have easy access to legal advice/back-up. Generally a follow-up email/letter would have been appropriate before materialising on someone's doorstep like that ... that or a suitable apologetic gift like a box of chocolates or a fruit basket upon arrival :P

The mixed messages from Hasbro are also a bit odd - the first email might be dismissed as a dupe to get poor pocket to disclose his postal address but it's very strange that AFTER the lawyers had already started corresponding, Hasbro were still saying that they were going to send the guns over? It makes me wonder whether perhaps legals and marketing haven't communicated properly - not an uncommon thing in large organisations.

I also think that perhaps the partner might be an old guy - sort of out of touch with technology and was confused even when pocket told him about the information being otherwise available on the Internet and telling him how to use Google etc. I know that technology can be scary for non tech savvy people, but you would expect that a law firm would have the necessary resources to do basic things like searches of Google, ebay and taobao etc. They probably don't even know about the reshipping companies like ebay that can add an extra layer between buyer and seller in an online transaction. There's been heaps of times ebay.com.au said that I was buying from an Australian vendor and then the goods ended up being shipped from HK or the US - no clue who the seller was in the end!!! Anyway, keep battling pocket - sorry this has happened to you. I want to hope that this is just a big misunderstanding and that the lawyers were overzealous and misguided (but thought wrongly that they were doing the wrong thing) and Hasbro probably had no clue what was going on and just assumed that their lawyers were handling everything properly. Hopefully after this, Hasbro will pick a law firm that is more technology-savvy, more people-friendly and knows more about online retailers and internet information.etc

They're going after Urban Taggers because they're trying to find where the leak is coming from in their organisation and were hoping Pocket was some man in the know who could do their job and spill the beans. Once they realise he's not, you'd hope they'd just give up an turn their attention elsewhere. Which would be the smart thing except there is a lot of things happening that aren't that smart from day dot.

In the mean time, have you noticed the amount of leaks in the nerf world over the past few weeks that HAVEN'T come from Urban Taggers? Germany it seems is where to look. Or even in the kid on youtube with the Pyragon. Urban Taggers may close their doors and that'll be most unfortunate, but the leaks will still come. What's funny is this whole thing has had Pocket come out and tell us point blank where the blasters came from so we now ALL know. Taobao eh? A chinese roommate DOES come in handy: well guess what I've found... :-P

What Hasbro has (allegedly) put Pocket through is utter unprofessional garbage if even half of what has (allegedly) transpired is true. This offends me both personally as a consumer/modder and as a new father. Hasbro would do well to realize the free influential media they are (allegedly) attacking are not just young consumers, but also soon-to-be parents who'll continue to be consumers. I won't be spending a cent on Hasbro for either me or my child until I see an official apology from Hasbro to Pocket as well as hear a satisfactory explanation or confirmation of the firing or of the legal team which (allegedly) fumbled this investigation so poorly. Good to have you back, Pocket. -Long-time follower, first-time commenter.

This upsets me a lot. While Hasbro has really destroyed its own credibility here, I'm directing my anger at its attorneys, Baker and McKenzie and particularly Mr Arnold.

Clearly Mr Arnold hasn't played his cards very well otherwise he would have realized that he's targeting the wrong person here. Pocket does not deserve to be subjected to such persistent intimidation and legal thuggery. Mr Arnold's strategy is one of attrition warfare, to try to wear down Pocket and wipe out UT.

Before this reaches a situation of mutually assured destruction, let's hope the people at Hasbro have the common sense and decency to see what's going on. Baker and McKenzie and Robert Arnold are a disaster for Hasbro and a disaster for Nerf fans around the world. But there's still a chance for Hasbro to make this up to Pocket and maybe send him that box of Pinpoint Sights after all...

No trolling unfortunately - the lawyer in question appears to be genuine based on this: http://www.bakermckenzie.com/RobertArnold. Shame on you Baker & McKenzie for adopting such underhanded, unprofessional and thuggish tactics! Shame on Hasbro, too for permitting this sort of behaviour to take place in the name of protecting your interests.

Check this out, too: http://www.bakermckenzie.com/aboutus/

"We Are Baker & McKenzie: Baker & McKenzie defined the global law firm in the 20th century, and we are redefining it to meet the challenges of the global economy in the 21st.

We bring to matters the instinctively global perspective and deep market knowledge and insights of more than 3,750 locally admitted lawyers in 69 offices worldwide. We have a distinctive global way of thinking, working and behaving – "fluency" – across borders, issues and practices.

We understand the challenges of the global economy because we have been at the forefront of its evolution. Since 1949, we have advised leading corporations on the issues of today’s integrated world market. We have cultivated the culture, commercial pragmatism and technical and interpersonal skills required to deliver world-class service tailored to the preferences of world-class clients worldwide.

Ours is a passionately collaborative community of 60 nationalities. We have the deep roots and knowledge of the language and culture of business required to address the nuances of local markets worldwide. And our culture of friendship and broad scope of practice enable us to navigate complexity across issues, practices and borders with ease."

We also waste client's money by sending strange men to stalk people who haven't done anything wrong ... Perhaps they sent a multilingual thug to your house, pocket ... that makes it all ok.

Go Pocket, stick it to the man. This whole thing is just really really weird form for a multinational company and their so called big professional law firm. Maybe we should all go to the law firm office and have a nerf war in the foyer.

Every time I think about this, I get more annoyed. Don't let the bastards get you down, man. It's not your fault if people come to you with inside info and scoops. It's cool that you get some of your stuff from taobao and from Googling but a bunch of info probably just comes to you because you're you.

As someone who's been around the Nerf community since Urban Taggers began, I am absolutely DISGUSTED with Hasbro's conduct (and yes, hiring those ridiculous jokers of a law firm in Baker McKenzie is THEIR responsibility) and refuse to spend any more money on not just Nerf, but any Hasbro product from here on.

I met Pocket in the first few months of him setting up Urban Taggers, back in the day when he set up "Bruce the Arms Dealer" and was providing the awesome service of importing Nerf guns that weren't available in Australia. Back in the day when Australia had never set eyes on an Alpha Trooper or a Barricade and all we had were Mavericks, Hornets and crappy ball blasters, Pocket was trying to promote and spread the good word of Nerf before even Hasbro was prepared to. Hasbro Australia sat on their hands (remember that pathetically outdated website that said the Raider CS-35 was coming 2 years after it was already released?) and did nothing.

It was Pocket, and his friend Neil who really put Canberra, and hence Australia on the map and generated the interest needed to get the good stuff to our shores.

I've seen Pocket's weapon haul and every one of those blasters were paid for with his own money. I was gobsmacked as he would import and review so the readers could see them up close and personal. Nerf paid him NOTHING. You can't pay for that kind of commitment and love of a product. Many people have suggested Hasbro should hire someone like Pocket for their marketing lead as their current mob are outdated and out of touch with what really sells.

Hasbro have not just stabbed themselves in the foot, they have chopped off their legs not just in Australia, but worldwide. Sending the lawyers in prematurely who in turn send in their goons is so far from acceptable. I'm sure they think they're very clever, but I hope Hasbro are ready for the backlash that comes from this. I for one hope it is EPIC.

I have been a fan of your website for quite some time and I feel it's damn shame that Hasbro is wasting their resources trying to save "secret" information instead of appreciating what you have accomplished for the company and its past, current aand potential customers. I would like to see this webssite continue, but I definitely understand your new lack of enthusiasm for Nerf. If Hasbro has such a problem that they need to send agents to to your house, then it needs to explore different .....ventures besides mere entertainment! :p Keep it up! The fans are with you!!

I am an avid reader of this blog when it comes to future blaster info. You do a marvelous job of collecting all of the info from all around the net. I personally couldn't give a shit about Nerf brand blasters right now, the only new thing they plan to introduce is the snapfire and maybe the pyragon, while airzone and buzzbee are churning out more unique blasters. I will be buying at least two bb blasters, and at most two nerf blasters, and probably a ton of airzone blasters.

I get the feeling that Hasbro has been fed limited information about what has transpired, chances are they just used a random Lawyer's for Hire, and put them on the job to find and stop the leak.As for this "NONPROFESSIONAL" Lawyer group What I believe happened is that they asked for the rampage pic to be taken down to double check and make sure you were who they thought you were. The Hasbro 'lady' might not actually exist, and if she does, it's possible that this company created a Fake E-mail with this persons consent. While this is speculation I think you need to check how far this rabbit hole goes to find out WTH is going on.

Honestly, the people who want to stop you are the most likely Hasbro's Advertising Team, If they see some non-paid fan doing their job for them, what job security do they then have? What this really boils down to is Hasbro's Marketing Squad can't do there job properly. If they did, there would be more hype up about their New blasters. Maybe you should contact Buzzbee, I'm sure they'd be willing to help. (considering they've got Ex-Nerf Developers on there team) I hear there coming out with a bunch of New Blasters this year.

Here's a scoop for you Hasbro - make sure you scrutinize your bill from Baker & McKenzie for all this wasted time and effort. The original time sheet was probably something like this:

6 hours: looking up dictionary - can't find word NERF anywhere 4 hours: trying to surf the Net. What is a search engine?3 hours: looking up dictionary - what the hell is a blog?3 hours: looking up dictionary - what the hell is a Google 2 hours: gave up, wrote some letters and emails to pocket to make him do my research for me 2 hours: frustrated because pocket did not reply to my latest email and I've already racked up 18 hours on the bill at $600+ an hour 1 hour: gave up and hired a goon squad to go and lurk around his house in Canberra 2 hours: looking up dictionary - what is an ebay? People buy things on the Internet?

But the invoice that Hasbro gets will read something like this:

23 hours: attending to numerous matters relating to enforcement of confidential information; reviewing correspondence to and from urban taggers; considering complex, international legal issues associated with 'blogging' and 'nerf'; briefing 'specialists' to 'collate' information; all attendances and correspondence incidental to the above.

Seriously Hasbro - given that there's no counterfeit crap at this blog, your time and money would have way been better spent actually engaging with your consumers and talking to them rather than using bullying and harassment techniques. Any obligation of confidentiality was between Hasbro and its employees - by the time the stuff' gets out there on the Internet and pocket gets his hands on it, I think that it's it's pretty hard to argue that it's still confidential. Hasbro -there ARE good law firms out there who do the right thing - you should think about engaging one of them.

I'm actually someone who's had run ins with Urban Taggers in the past, and I've never been a fan of what Pocket stood for but even I think this is insane and am totally with Urban Taggers on this one.

This couldn't have come at a worst time for Hasbro. What a bunch of idiots. Noticed all the other brands (X-Shot, Buzzbee, Airzone etc) have all upped their game and released some pretty cool innovative stuff, whereas Nerf have just released repainted blasters as totally new ones. whoever gave them THAT marketing advice is definitely stupid as fuck.

Elite series is supposed to be their saving grace and one thing that all of their new blasters have had on their side is Urban Taggers promoting the hell out of them. Urban Taggers. The blog that the Nerf community all watch whether you like them or not, because they give a lot of insight into what's coming, and it comes from a very indepth impartial point of view. God knows I wouldn't have bought half the blasters I have in the past year if I hadn't allowed curiosity to get the better of me from reading the blog.

The Rayven was a P.O.S but we all bought them because of the possibilities we saw from Pocket's review. If he hadn't have hyped it up so much, I would have been happy to leave that flywheel junk on the shelf. The Vortex series was also nothing to write home about from Nerf's marketing, but to see the detailed pics of it on UT made me curious and I bought. Swarmfire, Quick 16 and especially the Alpha Trooper were all big sellers.

Hasbro's Elite series was looking to be the next "big thing" but have you noticed how lackluster the care factor has been over the past month? Coincidental that a certain big blog has been offline?

I may not agree with the anti-modding stance Pocket had on Urban Taggers, but you'd think Hasbro woulda dropped their goo over that and made him their head of marketing. To send the lawyers after your biggest asset? No wonder your organisation is making losses. You make stupid decisions and throw money at stupid causes.

Regardless of whether or not they took your address to send you free stuff or if it was just to send goons to your house, what hapened with the fuckstick lawyers was just downright shitty. I won't be giving hasbro any more business.

This seems so crazy. Conspiracy theory - maybe one of those photos you used has something compromising in the background and that's why they're trying to scare you. Look through the old photos carefully pocket man - you may hold the key to international security in your hands!!

If Hasbro really like what you're doing and appreciate the free publicity why are they sending the lawyers and goons after you?

If I was Hasbro I would have invited you to their office, given you some freebies and discussed how they can use you in future promotions because you're clearly the man for the job and better than the half baked old fashioned efforts they're doing at the moment.

But I'm not Hasbro. No, Hasbro is represented by a dickhead. Who comes after you with "sorry to spoil your fun?"

It's easy to boycott Nerf- they haven't brought out anything good for a while anyway. Just needed the excuse. I've written to Hasbro a few times over the years to deaf ears. They're garbage at caring and their pathetic attempts at social media with "Nerf Nation" are laughable at best.

You Pocket have brought many people together. Nerf made a good product but you really helped create a sense of community. It's been awesome dude, don't let them stop you doing what you do.

Regardless of whatever circumstances led to all this, the things that Hasbro have put you through have been absolutely ridiculous, unprofessional, and *insert long stream of negative commentary here*. Glad to see all the positive comments and support from other readers though, you've truly created a great online community, and you do great work. I sincerely hope you find a way to keep on doing it in a way that makes you happy, because losing this fantastical blog would be a travesty. To heck with Hasbro and their BS, I hope this winds up exploding in their face, and with you getting lots of free stuff as way of an apology.

Oh wow, I've been offline for a few days and I come back to this! Now that the likes of Crikey have the story, I reckon Hasbro and their law firm have left it too late to try and contain/stop Urban Taggers. It's now out on the interwebs- any move they make now short of letting this go/ apologizing / giving Pocket a boot load of free stuff /is just going to blow up in their face even more.

It would have been bad enough if a Hasbro employee came to Urban Taggers house or even the lawyer in question who did all of this, but to send "hired" goons, whether they be private investigators, thugs or anything else to come and demand answers is just asking for trouble. I'm surprised Urban Taggers waited this long to fight back.

We're behind you all the way. Whatever they want to do now, we'll back you. Take your blog down, and we'll put up plenty more in its place. Try to silence you and we'll be louder than you ever were.

However, I recommend you go ahead and pursue the offered pinpoint sights, as they already have your address anyway, and it seems apparent that one hand of Hasbro has no clue what the others are doing anyway. Might take away some of the sting if the sights actually show up.

additionally, for a laugh check out this article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effectthis is what Hasbro have just done to themselves.

How large an effect it has in the long run may depend on whether they hassle you any more, and whether those proposed gifts ever actually show up.

In the age of the internet, if a corporation wants something secret, then keep it under wraps! If it gets out, then roll with it. Hasbro, instead, have scored a direct hit on their own foot. A fan site, which has apparently actually been recognized by one part of Hasbro for having successfully promoted Nerf products, has been attacked by another part, severely damaging the fan enthusiasm which had formerly been to Hasbro's obvious benefit.

This is a sad story, but Hasbro was in the right from a copyright and product owner prospective. You should have been posting your sources from that articular...... that said they were not upfront with you on why they were talking down your blog temporarily or permently if it got worse. Also we've been having a wired situation in the TF fandome with 3rd party stuff not being allowed at the official convention and its only happening this year, I think Hasbro might have a new layer who docent know about the fandomes there toy brands have like Nerf and TF. But I'm happy to here your going to start putting down sources making your blog a little bit more creditably, though I still would use you guys for a news articular

Sounds like their lawyers were spinning wheels looking for something to do - scary that they sent someone to your place, thats going too far. Kudos to you for explaining the whole situation clearly and openly!

It is a shame that these lawyers (and Hasbro) think that this is acceptable treatment for fans who are doing more good than bad for their brand, easy money for the lawyers no doubt explains this.

Such a shame that if the emails from the company about running a comp or offer were legit that these guys just happened to get involved.

Well done and greets, the lawyers are there to protect the brand but seem overzealous in this case, with all the negative publicity let's hope they get reined in and a couple of invoices returned, and you get some stuff to run a comp with.

If they have Google chrome then they won't need to translate it but from this post it seems like they hare going to contact the owners of he Taobao site shut them down then assainate all who have Nerf blasters before the release date. I also find it weird that they did this to UT and not NM&R (now known as FBM&R) or some other Nerf blog....?

I have to say that Hasbro really is ignorant in legal matters. That particular law firm acted,communicated, and responded was embarrassing for a company that large. It shows the huge gap in customer relations they must have within the company at large. The public relations must be in chaos these days, because of the disaster the law firm caused. I mean how does persecuting, using strong arm tactics against its own fans benefit the company?? I also think that its unfair for them to pick on you, or perhaps use you as an example! I mean there are dozens of other websites that show modifications to blasters which could get them into far more trouble.

Even if you have the email information, that does not necessitate even they can trace that information. Its kind of ignorant of them to assume that. I mean do they realize were the products are coming from??? A little obvious where there leak is at.. in China.. probably from a dude who works for them or works around HASBROS FACTORIES!! In China who pays some poor Chinese dude $25 dollars for a Nerf gun before it comes up for sale..

It's a bit interesting that the inhouse Hasbro team, their external lawyers and their PR team must have revised the precise wording of that official statement a few times and that odd paragraph was all that they could come up with? In any case, it's a very interesting statement. It may be true that the local Australian marketing team tried to "reach out to UT" but it's just really weird that your blog has been around since 2010, the first time you hear from Hasbro is 15 March 2012 and then you get a letter from Baker & McKenzie on 21 March 2012. That is just really unfortunate timing/coincidence/something ... Also, it's more than a month later and there are still no pinpoint sites in sight so I think you were entitled to feel like the two were very much inter-related. It's bizarre that Hasbro hasn't acknowledged that.

I also find it interesting that they refer to "independent investigators". Are these "independent investigators" the lawyers or the PIs engaged by the lawyers? In any case, the "independent" shows Hasbro rapidly side stepping away from the issue and flicking Mr Hot Potato Head at someone else.

pocket - I'm really sorry this has happened to you. If I were Hasbro, I'd say: 1. Look, we were entitled to investigate UT - he seemed to have special information. 2. We regret the methods taken to investigate and when we realised it was a dead end, we probably should have pursued more useful avenues of investigation 3. We will make sure our "independent investigators" whether law firms or private investigators when dealing with normal members of the public try to understand how a non-lawyer would interpret their words and actions. 4. Let's shake hands and make up

I can tell from your blog that you're just an enthusiastic Nerf enthusiast - as someone else has pointed out somewhere, there are no products for sale, no flashing ads. It's all just really unlucky and you have our support, for what it's worth.

What did you expect? You say you bought product you knew wasn't supposed to be released yet? You're an expert on Nerf, you would know that you were buying illegally obtained goods. Don't act like a saint.

anonymous - don't think there's any attempt to be cast as a saint here. he did everything the law firm asked for - took down the images, gave him what info he had - he just didn't have the other info they wanted. don't think he wants anyone to pray to him - think the dude just wants to be left alone really ...

In the old days, when Nerf was limited to a few items on the shelf, Pocket was providing us with information on blasters that were readily available in the USA but not in Australia. Apparently THAT was okay because it was "official" in America.

When blasters were released in the Asian countries like Singapore and HK first, many US readers suggested they were "fake" and "stolen" and "unofficial". Even if they were bought at a Toys R Us.

My point is I don't know if it is so clear cut that something is "illegal" or not. Expert or not, one assumes if you can buy it, it's kosher. Some kid bought his Rayven at a chemist ages before it was "official" to buy. And that was even IN the USA. Any fan of a product would love to get their hands on new kit.

What I think is funny is now Pocket has been forced to reveal how he got them from Tao Bao, means anyone can get them, and will. By keeping it all under wraps, he was actually helping Hasbro. Finding a new channel to buy new Nerf? China's about to get a whole lot more cash.

"As with anything, there are two sides to every story. While we cannot comment on the details of any ongoing investigation, Hasbro takes all circumstances of its stolen and leaked IP very seriously and will continue to investigate sources of unauthorized information and products as it relates to its brands."

That's a very unhelpful and uninformative comment. Way to go with giving us both sides of the story, Hasbro!!

"We would like to clarify one of the inaccuracies that has been reported. While a local Hasbro Australia marketing team did reach out to the Urban Taggers website to engage in promotional activity for which it required its address, it was completely unrelated to the confidential global investigation being conducted on Hasbro’s behalf by independent investigators looking into sources of leaked IP information."I'm not sure the reporting is inaccurate. 2 years and nada from Nerf, then Hasbro contacts pocket and then a couple of weeks later the lawyer does, too? You can't blame people for thinking that the events are related. And yes, where are these notorious pinpoints now? I think it's weird that while he's getting lawyer letters and Goon Squads, he has both Hasbro PR AND the lawyers saying Hasbro likes his blog. If that's how they treat people they 'like', lord only knows how they treat people they don't like :P

"Hasbro greatly values and appreciates its fan communities and is very proud of its strong relationships with many bloggers and sites that cover our brands and products."I see ... Hasbro - has anyone ever told you that actions speak louder than words???

pocket - if you get the 11 pinpoints, I think you should send one of them to Baker & McKenzie as a gift - and a memento of this extremely bizarre state of affairs.

I too think the timing of the asking for Pockets' personal info and the appearance of lawyers who know exactly how and where to find him is just way too convenient. Sure, it might be possible to get his address through other means, but the fact that most people didn't even know Pockets' real name until two days ago also serves to show this info isn't just lying around either.

And with the pinpoints, if they every appear (high chance now that everything has been made so public) it would be awesome for Pocket to sign them or stamp the urban taggers logo on them first before raffling them off - they can then pass into nerf folklore as "THOSE pinpoints" - true collectors' items.

That is so idiotic that they do stuff like that!!! They need to learn not to send their lawyers around acting like thugs!!!!!! I'm glad that you did not tell them who you got info from. 'Cause if you told them they might have sent big repo/thug men to beat the heck out of them! Though that could have meant that Hasbro could have had all the Nerf N-Strike Blasters sued out of them!!!! Then all the 'Nerfies'(as I call them and myself) and all the boys and girls of the world could actually get something out of Hasbro other than stupid dolls and action-figures!!!!!! And really?! They have the audasity to try and mess with someone like that! By now everyone knows that I am mad probably but still I know what it is like to have big thugs running around making people pee their pants!!! And espiacally, this comment is to you Hasbro, IT'S CALLED IMPERIALISM!!!!!! I really wished you had sued the pants off them! hey surely deserved it!!! If someone would like to talk to me I'm happy to talk. I espiacally the taggers. Taggers please reply to pmg13maverick@hotmail.com

Pocket, you should get a sword(or two, or three)and hang it on the wall/sit it on the TV cabinet. They're really easy to get as long as you don't buy from overseas. They're a good home defense tool, AND they can become quite the hobby. My family finds this site(http://www.roninswords.com.au/)to be very reliable, it's based on the Sunshine Coast. You don't even have to be serious about it, slicing fruit and vegies can be really fun:D

Yeah, I think hasbro is being d****bags right now, but I think this is a misunderstanding (somewhere) and let's just leave this to later (like when nerf elite is released in december). But I am still mad hasbro isn't releasing magstrike in asia (and I think that is racist).HK nerfer (hknerfer.blogspot.com)

Did you get the pinpoints sent???? c'mon Hasbro i love your brand but ya gota keep the honor, yo joe an all that stuff so i hope you send the sights now even if it was just a sneaky ploy, open up that petty cash box and send 11 pinponts asap please, Hasbro doing this is like dad told me he was gonna buy me 11 new nerf guns but instead makes me fist fight his biggest mate coz he thought i stole his beer then he finds out i was not even me but still does not give a hoot even though i have just been flogged??????, F&@* U DAD, buy me the 11 nerf guns u promised now at least, or forever b a piece of crap .....please.

A toy blaster resource; from a kidult's perspective living in an Australian inner city apartment. Focusing on out- of- the- box foam dart, laser tag and water guns with the odd two player co-op game thrown in for good measure:)